A secret society for the monuments

At the beginning of the 80s, an amazing secret society appeared in Paris. Its aim was to restore the urban heritage without any official authorization! They were called “Urban eXpriment” (or UX). This organization was at the origin of other movements bearing very unusual names, such as the “Mouse House”, the “Mexican Perforation” or the famous “Untergunthers”. Although the rumours about them were becoming heavier, these shadow men kept on meeting within the catacombs of Paris and often worked at night, very furtively.

For more than twenty years their actions remained discreet and intensive, until a few missions were discovered by the press, which soon made a big deal with this social phenomenon. However, the most astonishing act was made in 2005, when the Untergunthers succeeded in secretly renovating the clock of the Pantheon , a majestic object that the National Monuments Center had not taken care of for many years. The latter sued four members of the group and even dared asking for 48,300 euros to punish this “non-compliant” restoration! Fortunately, the restorers were all relaxed but the clock never re-worked as the administrator of the Pantheon decided to remove an important component of the clock’s wheel…

The picture above shows the UGWK workshop that the Untergunthers had installed in the dome of the Pantheon to organize the restoration. In order to hide the chairs, the wooden blocks can be paired together and take on the appearance of simple crates.